Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Thomas Bjørnsen: Blood Flow Restriction Bodybuilding Training

You can do BFR up to 4 – 5 x per week depending on your overall strength training routine.  Studies seem to show that 7 sessions per week seem be to too much.

Use lighter loads. 20 – 30% of 1RM
Low loads will give you same results as high loads without cuffs.

Isolation exercises seem best. Effects are primarily on the occluded muscle.

4 – 5 sets seem optimal as studies that did 8 sets did not show benefits over the 5 set protocol.

Typical Workout
30 reps
15 reps
15 reps
15 reps

Rest times between sets is typically 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Cuff or knee wrap size.
Legs 5 - 15 cm wide
Arms 2 – 5 cm wide
Wider cuff has higher degree of blood flow

Use on upper part of arms or legs (not at knee or elbow joints)
If you cannot do 30 – 40 reps on the first set the pressure or weight is too high.

Type I muscle fiber is more endurance
Type II muscle fiber is more powerful

You begin with Type I fiber and recruit Type II as you fatigue.

Maybe beneficial for elderly and rehabilitation.

Seems to activate myonuclei cells and satellite cell activity.

Two approaches to BFR training.
Example 1:
                        Week 1 – BFR training
                        Week 2 – Regular Strength Training
                        Week 3 – Regular Strength Training
                        Week 4 – BFR Training
Example 2:
                        BFR on last set of each exercise
                       
Follow him on twitter: @thomasbjornsen

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj7U7RR3uMs